Volumetric rendering is a technique for generating realistic images from a 3d dataset. Each voxel (volumetric pixel) in a volume has red, green, blue, and alpha channels, allowing for complex 3d models to be represented including areas of varying density. For this reason, volumetric rendering has been commonly used in medical imaging, allowing for flexible viewing of CT scan data by allowing the user to strip out certain density ranges or slice through an object. ofxVolumetrics harnesses the parallel processing power of commodity computer graphics processors to give artists and designers access to this powerful technology.

ofxVolumetrics provides an easy to use interface to integrate volumetric data, or voxels, into an openFrameworks project. Volumes are treated like any other 3d object in your scene; you can rotate, translate, and scale to position the volume, then simply call the draw function and ofxVolumetrics will seamlessly integrate the volume into your scene. Quality can be adjusted in the XY resolution and Z resolution independently, and can scale to run smoothly on most modern GPUs.